The baptism of Jesus inaugurates his ministry as the anointed one of God. The passage from Isaiah indicates the kind of messiah he will be. He will not exercise harsh justice, nor will he wield the sword of vengeance on the battlefield. He will be a servant, who, though mighty is gentle; one chosen by God, yet committed to the needy and the marginal; the Son of God who attends to the least within the community. The messiah of God may have come from an insignificant village like Nazareth, but he was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power. Filled with the Spirit of God, he acts out of a gentle, compassionate spirit and comes for all people without distinction.